Tool for pulling a line through a conduit

ABSTRACT

A tool for pulling a line through a conduit including a bendable shank for entering the conduit, a handle at one end of the shank for manual manipulation, and a hook at the other end of a shank for catching a line in the conduit to be pulled through the conduit.

United States Patent Peirce, Jr.

TOOL FOR PULLING A LINE THROUGH A CONDUIT inventor; Benjamin F. Peirce.Jr.. I040 SW.

67th Ter.. Plantation. Flu. 333 I7 Filed: Feb. 25. 1974 Appl. N0.:445,631

US. Cl 2S4/l34.3 R Int. Cl.'-' EZIC 29/16 Field of Search 254/l34.3 R.134.3 FT; 8l/8.1; 294/19, 26'. l5/l04.()2. 104.05, lO4.l6, [04.165

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ll/l887 Hart 254/134] June 24,I975 l.202.l20 l0/l9l6 Stuckel 294/26 I.H53.l76 5/l932 Webb ill/8.]2.604.350 7/l952 Taylor 294/26 1.145.04l H/l964 Grnlig 294/) R .l62.475l2/l964 Van Allen 294/26 3 224.73 l2/l965 Williams 254/134.) F'l3.330.533 7/l967 Blumc 254/l34.3 FT

Primary Exuminer0thell M. Simpson Attorney. Agem. or Firm-Oltman andFlynn [57] ABSTRACT A tool for pulling a line through a conduitincluding a bendable shank for entering the conduit, a handle at one endof the shank for manual manipulation. and a hook at the other end of ashank for catching a line in the conduit to be pulled through theconduit.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures I TOOL FOR PULLING A LINE THROUGH A CONDL'ITBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In patent application Ser. No. 442,925 filedon Feb. 15. I974. by the present inventor (Attorney's Docket No. 2377) awiring arrangement is described and claimed in which a plurality ofwires such as telephone wires extend through branch conduits and Ycouplings into a main conduit or raceway which leads to a terminalnormally located outside a building. In order to feed the wires throughthe branch conduits, a line, which is normally string, is fed throughthe main conduit and is then pulled up through each of the branchconduits. Wires are tied to the line at each of the branch conduits.Then the line is pulled from the terminal end of the main conduit inorder to pull each of the branch wires through the branch conduits andthe main conduit to the terminal. In order to carry out this wiringarrangement, it is necessary to have a tool for pulling the line fromthe main conduit up through the branch conduits so that the wires can betied to the line. The present invention provides an advantageous toolfor pulling the line through the conduits.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a tool forpulling a line through a conduit including an elongated bendable memberhaving a long shank, a handle at one end of the shank to be graspedmanually by a person and a hook at the other end of the shank forcatching a line to be pulled through the conduit. The hook comprisesfirst and second bights approximately normal to each other, with thefirst bight extending angularly in a plane from the shank to the secondbight, and the second bight ex tending angularly from the plane of thefirst bight to a tip at which the second bight terminates.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toolfor catching a line in a conduit and for pulling the line through theconduit.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tool which can bemanipulated to catch a line in a conduit merely by twisting the tool.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tool which can beinserted easily into a conduit through a bend in the conduit and whichcan be twisted easily in the conduit.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tool which will catch aline in a conduit without tangling the line.

Other objects of this invention will appear from the followingdescription and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings forming a part of this specification wherein like referencecharacters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a view of a tool inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view showing a hook at one end of the tool; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. I and looking inthe direction of the arrows.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited in its application to thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawings,

since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of beingpracticed or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understoodthat the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purposeof description and not of limitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The tool 10 includes an elongated, bendable shankI2 for entering a conduit. The tool 10 has a handle I4 at one end of theshank for manual manipulation. The tool 10 also has a hook 115 at theother end of the shank 12 for catching a line to be pulled through aconduit.

The tool is ordinarily made of wire or other strong but bendablematerial, and it is ordinarily made in one piece.

The handle 14 includes a portion 18 which is bent at a right anglerelative to the shank l2, and another portion 20 which is bent at aright angle to portion 18. Handle portions 18 and 20 lie in the sameplane as the shank 12.

The hook 16 includes a first bight 22 which bends in a curvesubstantially in the plane of the shank 12 through an angle ofapproximately The hook 16 also includes a second bight 24 which bends ina curve through at least 90 in a plane approximately at 90 to the firstbight 22. The second bight 24 terminates in a tip 26 which tapers downin thickness to a terminal edge 28 that is rather sharp for facilitatingtwisting of the tool in a conduit so as to catch a line in the conduit.As may be seen in FIG. 2, the tip 26 is located slightly above the firstbight 22 toward the handle I4.

In the use of the tool 10, the hook I6 is inserted first through abranch conduit which extends at approximately a right angle relative toa main conduit and enters the main conduit through a Y coupling. Thetool is pushed into the branch conduit until the hook 16 enters the mainconduit, and then is pushed a little further until the tool bendsthrough the Y coupling and the hook I6 enters a substantial distanceinto the main conduit. As previously mentioned, the shank 12 is bendableto facilitate the insertion of the hook into the main conduit.

After the hook I6 is in the main conduit, the handle 14 is twisted so asto rotate the whole tool. The tip 26 follows around the insidecircumference of the main conduit so that the bights 22 and 24 catch aline located in the conduit without tangling the line. The handle isthen pulled so as to remove the hook 16 from the main conduit and thenfrom the branch conduit. This pulls the line through the branch conduituntil it emerges from the branch conduit. Once the line has been pulledout of the branch conduit, a wire can be tied to the line, and the linecan then be pulled from one end of the main conduits so as to pull thewire through the branch conduit and the main conduit to a terminal boxas previously described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A tool for pulling a line through a conduit comprising an elongatedwire having a long flexible shank, handle means at one end of said shankto be grasped manually by a person, and hook means at the other end ofsaid shank comprising a first bight curving outward from said shanksubstantially in the plane of said shank through a turn of approximately90, and a second bight curving from said first bight through a turn ofat least 90 and at a slight inclination back toward said one end of theshank in a plane approximately at 90 3 to said first named plane, saidsecond hight terminating in a tip disposed toward said one end of theshank from said first bight. said tip having a tapered edge which mergessmoothly with the outside circumference of said second bight and makes adistinct corner with the

1. A tool for pulling a line through a conduit comprising an elongatedwire having a long flexible shank, handle means at one end of said shankto be grasped manually by a person, and hook means at the other end ofsaid shank comprising a first bight curving outward from said shanksubstantially in the plane of said shank through a turn of approximately90*, and a second bight curving from said first bight through a turn ofat least 90* and at a slight inclination back toward said one end of theshank in a plane approximately at 90* to said first named plane, saidsecond bight terminating in a tip disposed toward said one end of theshank from said first bight, said tip having a tapered edge which mergessmoothly with the outside circumference of said second bight and makes adistinct corner with the inside circumference of said second bight. 2.The tool as claimed in claim 1 in which said second bight curves througha turn of approximately 180*.